How many hours of sleep do you get at night? I hope your answer is between 7 and 8 hours per night.

Sleep is not a luxury, it's a necessity to keep your body healthy, your energy bouncing and your beauty glowing.

Unfortunately many people underestimate the importance of sleep. If that describes you, please schedule more time for sleep.

If you want to be healthy, be full of energy, maintain a stable weight, emit a radiant glow and stay positive, then sleep needs to be a non-negotiable commitment.

Get in the habit of preparing yourself for bedtime by following a nurturing sleep time ritual. This will help you unwind from the day, giving you a more peaceful night’s sleep.

If you struggle to get to bed at a decent hour, try these tips for a more tranquil night’s sleep:

1. Give yourself a bed time.

The key to a good night’s sleep is to stop all work an hour before bed and to do something that relaxes you.

2. Create a sleep sanctuary.

Design your bedroom to be peaceful, clean, and clutter-free. Have an oil burner, journal and good book on your bedside table. Make sure you get plenty of fresh air in your bedroom and set the mood by ensuring your room is dark. Create a soothing space by blocking outside noise, light and temperature extremes. An ideal temperature is about 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).

3. Make a beautiful bed.

You spend a third of your life in bed, so why not give it a little more focus and turn it into a welcoming sanctum, a place of peace, tranquillity and sweet dreams? A beautiful made bed will make you smile at the end of a day, and it will become a safe haven that you look forward to every day.

To start, make sure you have clean, crisp sheets. For a little added indulgence, try adding lavender oil to your washing machine. Choose sheets and duvet covers that you find beautiful to look at.

4. Light your oil burner an hour before bed.

The aroma of essential oils promote wellness and serenity, they are one of nature’s best healers. Get in the habit of diffusing your air with some healing aromas. Some sleep inducing oils include lavender, rose, sweet orange, sandalwood or you may want to purchase a tranquillity blend.

5. Treat yourself to a sacred beauty ritual.

Relax and detox by soaking in a warm bath infused with lavender oil and Epsom salts. After your bath, lather your body in a natural oil to hydrate and nourish your skin while you sleep. Some of my favourite oils are coconut, sweet almond, jojoba and rosehip.

6. Mindfully sip on a sleep inducing drink.

Brew a small pot of herbal tea such as chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, or ginseng. Make yourself a chai tea with warm almond milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. One of my favorite unwind drinks is to blend up coconut water, coconut milk, cacao with a dash of honey. This raw coconut cacao bliss smoothie can be drunk cold or hot.

7. Listen to some relaxation music.

Put on some music that you find relaxing, it can be rainforest sounds, ocean sounds, Celtic sounds, classical music or anything else that you find relaxing. Lay, breath and let the sounds soothe your soul.

8. Meditate.

Practice mindfulbreathing and meditation before bed. Lie in bed and breathe in through your nose, imagining the fresh oxygen flooding your body and nourishing your cells. Then take a big exhale through your mouth and imagine all the toxins of the day leaving your body.

Fill your body with positive and healing energy. Do this for about 5-10 minutes.

9. Keep a Journal.

If you're having trouble sleeping because your thoughts are racing at a million miles an hour, take a moment to write it all down. Writing is a great way to block the outside noise and connect with your inner guidance; the answers you seek just might flow from your pen.

Buy a beautiful blank notebook and let the words pour from your heart to the pages of the paper. It doesn’t have to be a diary of what happened in your day, it can be a list of things for which you're grateful, some inspiring quotes, new ideas, or just your thoughts about the day.

10. Don’t consume any alcohol, coffee or sugar before bed.

These will usually wake you up at about 2am in the morning and keep you awake. Make sure you eat dinner at least 2 hours before bed, as your digestion slows down at night and any foods that need to be digested will give you discomfort and disrupt your sleep.

11. Don’t exercise too close to bedtime.

Exercise releases a hormone called cortisol which keeps you awake. Make sure you have at least a three hour gap from the time you exercise to lights out.

Writer, holistic lifestyle coach and green smoothie lover Claire Charters founded her holistic blog with the goal of creating an online wellness resource to inspire people to reconnect with their body and soul. Claire is a professional writer and writes for various health, beauty and wellness magazines and sites. Claire is due to publish her first book “Everyday Simple Luxuries” at the end of the year. You can connect with Claire at ClaireCharters.com and also via her blog , facebook , twitter and by signing up to her popular daily inspiration letter. To connect with Claire please click here.

Writer, holistic lifestyle coach and green smoothie lover Claire Charters founded her holistic blog with the goal of creating an online wellness resource to inspire people to reconnect with their body and soul. Claire is a professional writer and writes for various health, beauty and wellness magazines and sites. Claire is due to publish her first book “Everyday Simple Luxuries” at the end of the year. You can connect with Claire at ClaireCharters.com and also via her blog , facebook , twitter and by signing up to her popular daily inspiration letter. To connect with Claire please click here.

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